Duality
by Ghostalker
Summary: Raven snaps in battle and becomes too dangerous to fight. She leaves the Titans for civilian life, but gets more than she hoped for when she meets Tylan. Complete! Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1 Lost Control

The tall, dark figure watched their every movement with the utmost diligence. After all, they were his greatest enemies. They were the Teen Titans, a group of five superheroes dedicated to fighting crime and evil in the city. And he desired to rule the city. They stood in his way.

The Titans were totally unaware of his presence as he watched them. They were, in fact, nowhere near him. He stood in his hidden headquarters, miles away from where they fought his minions furiously. The Teen Titans even believed he was there, fighting against them. But the figure they fought against with increasing desperateness was just that: a figure. It was a robotic drone, slaved to his mind via a cybernetic uplink in his brain. It fought as he would fight, did as he commanded, and so, in a strange and twisted way, he _was _fighting them, and they were fighting him.

But were he to lose in a bizarre twist of fate, they would not capture him. They would not unmask _him_. Instead, they would find themselves looking into a video screen, showing him. And then he would trigger the drone's self-destruct mechanism, causing an explosion that could and _should_ kill them.

They would never take him alive. They would never take him dead, either. He had been to hell and back, and the Teen Titans were not going to stand in his way any longer.

After all, he was Death.

He was Slade.

"Titans, go!"

The shout came from a short boy wearing a red jumpsuit, green pants, and black cape. His black hair was spiked randomly, and he wore a mask over his eyes. His name was Robin, and he was the leader of the Teen Titans.

As he said the words, he threw two small disks at the retreating figure of Slade, but two of Slade's robotic slaves intercepted the explosives, vanishing in a burst of flame. The rest of Slade's minions aimed curved weapons at them, firing laser beams at the Titans.

Cyborg, the largest of the Titans, charged ahead, his robotic arm quickly morphing to reveal his sonic cannon. He aimed carefully, taking down a drone with every shot. Three shots, three kills. "Booyah!" he shouted, the thrill of victory flooding over him.

The smallest Titan, Beast Boy, dashed around the celebrating Cyborg and demonstrated his own powers of metamorphosis, quickly changing from a short green boy into a large green gorilla in the blink of an eye. His simian fists crushed drones with ease as he swung his arms around him, laying waste to his enemies.

The remaining robo-soldiers began to retreat, firing as they gave ground. Robin saw Slade retreating with four of his drones as a personal escort. "Star! After him!" he shouted.

The Tamaranian girl responded by hurling two green bolts of energy from her hand, then leaping into the air. Rather than falling back to earth, she continued to float upwards, her alien powers propelling her through the air swiftly and surely. As she flew above the battlefield, she spotted Slade and his cadre, and plunged back toward the ground, throwing energy balls with accuracy and speed.

Three of the four drones were destroyed in the initial barrage, and the fourth quickly succumbed to Starfire's superhuman strength. As she faced Slade, her eyes began to glow green. "Slade!" she shouted, "surrender now, or we will unleash the kicking of the butt!"

Slade turned to the orange-skinned girl, and if he could have smiled, he would have. As it was, the mask he wore obscured any facial expressions. In a perfectly calm voice, he said one word.

"No."

Then, without warning, an enormous explosion erupted from behind her, an explosion of terrible power and dark nature. Starfire was hurled forward into the ground, hitting her head. In her last moments of consciousness, she saw the downed Slade slowly getting up and walking away.

The next day, Starfire's head still hurt. The rest of the Titans were disappointed that she had let Slade get away, but they did their best to help make her comfortable. She sat on the wide couch, watching Beast Boy lose miserably to Cyborg in one of their numerous videogames. After a dozen rounds, she grew tired of watching, and moved to the kitchen to find something to eat.

She opened the refrigerator, hoping to find at least a sandwich. But only bare shelves met her gaze. She closed the door in disappointment, then adjusted the ice pack on her head, and headed up to her room.

As she trudged the hallways toward her room, she heard Raven and Robin talking in a side room. Even though she was not meaning to eavesdrop, she could not help but overhear.

"No, Robin. I'm done. I can't do this anymore. I've been a Titan for a long time, and it's time I became part of the real world. Besides, you don't necessarily know this, but last night I was so close to releasing _ him_…" She shuddered. "I don't want to deal with that again."

"But… but… but…" Robin couldn't reply.

"I'm sure you'll get along just fine without me."

"But…"

Starfire couldn't believe her ears. Raven was leaving? Why would her friend leave the only home she ever had? Without thinking, she burst into the room, throwing her arms around her friend. "Raven, Raven, you _cannot_ leave! Who will make fun of Beast Boy? Who will deliver the sarcasm? Who will I meditate with? Raven, you _must_ stay!"

Raven's normally impassive face softened. "I'm sorry, Starfire, but I need to find a life outside the hero business. You guys are great friends. But I need to live a normal life. Or, at least, as normal as I can. I'm too dangerous to stay; if I continue to fight, then I may end up hurting someone. And that's something I don't want."

"If this is the way it must be… then… _sniff_… goodbye, friend." Starfire hung her head and left the room.

Raven turned back to Robin. "So, aren't you going to try and dissuade me?"

Robin shook his head. "No, you're right. I keep forgetting that not all of us made the same choice I did. And it is your choice. But if you ever need us… you know who to call." He held up his T-communicator.

"Yeah." With that, Raven turned away, and disappeared in a flash of blackness.

Robin sighed.


	2. Chapter 2 New Beginning

The next day, Raven arrived at the local high school, Jump City High. After being admitted, she made her way to her first class. Dressed entirely in black—black T-shirt, black skirt, and black shoes—she was immediately grouped with the Goths. Not that she minded.

"So… what's up?" she asked one pale-faced boy pierced through with shiny metal rods.

"The world, sucks, girl. It always will. Everything's pointless. Want to talk about it?" he replied.

"Um… sure. Maybe later." The strength of his despair overwhelmed her strong feeling of dejá vu. It was at this moment that she noticed a tall sandy-brown-haired boy walking her way. He smiled at her, a smile full of shiny white teeth, and stuck out his hand.

"Hi, I'm Tylan. You must be Raven. Welcome!"

Raven was speechless, firstly because someone had noticed her. Secondly, because she was busy admiring his physique: well muscled, but not overly so. His face was handsome, she admitted to herself with a blush, as she took the proffered hand and said, rather timidly, "Thanks."

He smiled again, and her heart jumped. "I hope we get to talk some more. In the meantime, enjoy your classes," he said, and then turned and walked away.

She watched him go, oblivious to the pale-faced boy's furious glare. The classes before lunch passed rapidly, as she watched Tylan from the back of the rooms. As it turned out, he was in every class she had but one, History of Literature. Raven, a book fanatic, had chosen this class to occupy herself, not realizing that someone else would be occupying a lot of her mind.

Lunchtime came far too quickly, she thought, as she got in line behind the pale-faced boy she had met earlier. When she asked about Tylan, he seemed excited—excited to recount all the reasons he hated him. Tylan was popular, athletic, handsome, smart—in short, everything any high school guy could hope to be, and which Pale Face clearly wasn't. Raven half-listened to Pale Face rant, but with the other half of her mind, she thought about how wonderful this Tylan must be.

As Raven left the lunch line, carrying her plate of mystery meat, she looked around the cafeteria for a place to sit. The Goths had a place open, of course. In fact, the two adjacent tables were empty, an obvious shunning by the general population. She noted Tylan sitting with the basketball and football players, one table over from the cheerleaders and other "preps." With obvious disappointment, she noted that he was already accompanied—by a cheerleader. She turned instead toward the Goth table, where Pale Face was clearly saving a seat for her. Instead, she chose a spot next to a girl with short, spiked black hair with red highlights. Raven got an eyeful of light as the overhead lamps reflected off the mass of metal studs covering the bracelets on her neighbor's wrists. Gertrude, or Trudy, as the girl was called, began a rant about how much school sucked. Everyone at the table agreed halfheartedly, as they had heard the entire speech before.

Raven, however, wasn't paying attention to Trudy. Instead, her focus was across the room, at the prep table. She watched as the cheerleader next to Tylan fawned on him, and he smiled at her in return. Then he said something, and everyone laughed. More words were exchanged, but this time, the girl on his arm wrinkled her nose in distaste and gave a disgusted look. Tylan then grabbed his tray, and got up—she presumed to dispose of his garbage. Instead, he headed for her table… and sat down right next to her!

"Hey everyone." Tylan grinned around at the table's occupants.

Everyone except Trudy and Pale Face ignored him. Pale Face glared, and Trudy would have turned red with anger, except for the mass of white makeup slathered on her pierced face. Instead, she managed a light shade of pink, which dramatically reduced the impact.

Tylan, however, seemed oblivious. "Just wanted to say hi, see how everyone's doing. And to sit by the new student." He beamed at Raven, then turned to face her. "How are you liking it?"

Raven looked around, as if searching for an answer. She spied Pale Face's glare, and realized she was caught between a rock and a hard place. If she responded truthfully, the Goth crowd would shun her. On the other hand, if she played to the audience, she might miss out on the chance to impress _him_. So, she took the middle ground.

"It's alright, I guess." She shrugged. "Nothing exciting's happened, and it probably won't."

"I see." Rather than being put off by her non-answer, he grinned all the more. Pale Face's glare lessened, but did not disappear. "Well, I hope something exciting happens. Would you care to sit by us, or would you rather I sit here?"

The question blindsided Raven. Had he just invited her to sit with them? And even if she didn't want to leave the Goths, he had offered to stay and sit with her! Her heart started pounding. Before she could answer, however, Pale Face spoke up.

"Look, man, we don't want you sittin' here. Go back and sit with your little preppy crowd. Are you trying to mock us, or what?" Then he turned on Raven. "And I suppose we're just not good enough for you, huh? Fine, then! Sit by the preps. See if I… we care. Didn't want you anyway."

That solved Raven's dilemma. Much as she hated to hurt their feelings, she knew the Goths would never welcome her at the table again. So she turned to Tylan and said "It's alright. I'll sit by you guys."

Tylan was already grinning, but his smile nearly split his face in half when she said it. "Okay, come on over. Sorry, guys," he said to the rest of the table.

Pale Face said nothing. Trudy was speechless for a change. The rest of the occupants merely mumbled. So Raven gathered her lunch, dumped it in the garbage can, and followed Tylan as he ambled over to his former seat. He made room next to him, and as she sat down, Raven caught a glance that would have melted steel from the cheerleader on the opposite side. Raven got a half-dozen greetings from the members of the football team, all of which eyed her with expressions that were half-fear, half-interest. She wasn't sure which kind of interest it was: morbid curiosity, genuine interest, or mere lust.

The rest of lunch passed rather uneventfully. The rest of the day did as well, unless one could call having class with Tylan eventful. It was difficult attempting to pay attention to two different things, and judging from how often he looked over at her, he was having the same problem.

After school, Raven was walking back toward the downtown area when Tylan sidled up beside her. "Hey. Can I walk you home?"

Raven gave him an odd look. "Why would you want to do that?" she asked.

Tylan shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's nice to have someone to walk and talk with, especially when you're new. Plus, the city can be a dangerous place." He winked at her at this last statement, making it clear he was joking. What was truly funny was his unspoken offer to protect her. _Truly ironic_, she thought. Here she was, a heroine, a member of the Teen Titans, who protected him and the rest of the city every day and he was offering to protect her. She almost laughed.

Then she realized she had nowhere to go. Except back to the Tower. And she couldn't do that. If he knew what she was, then he'd leave her for sure.

So she lied. "My house is several miles from here. I'm sure you don't want to walk that whole way."

It backfired. "Hm… you're right. Let's take my bike instead. I'll drive you home. Is that ok?"

She thought quickly, but couldn't come up with an excuse, so she said, "Sure." Already her mind was in high gear, trying to figure out a way to get back to the Tower without him seeing her. Nothing came to her, so she followed him back to his "bike." Rather than a plain bicycle, as she had erroneously imagined, his "bike" was a motorcycle, a sleek black model with highly polished chrome, the kind that reckless teenagers bent over in their quest for speed and adrenaline.

He climbed on and threw on a helmet. He turned to her and said, "Sorry I don't have a helmet for you. I honestly wasn't expecting to take anyone home today." Her heart skipped a beat as he grinned, and said, "But don't worry, you can ride behind me."

She personally had no objection, other than that it might be misconstrued by others if she were to be seen riding on the back of his motorcycle, so she climbed up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned up against him as she had seen the girls in the movies do. He kicked away the stand, and fired up the engine with a twist of the handle grip, and soon they were virtually flying along the road, the wind grabbing at her hair and clothing.

She directed him down random streets, hoping for a house she could pass off as her own. Finally she had him pull up to an apartment complex. She hopped off the back of the bike, and was about to say goodbye when he stepped off the bike, whipped off his helmet, and set it on the seat of the motorcycle.

"Umm… what are you doing?" She didn't mean it to sound so fearful, but if he walked her up to the apartment, then her plan was shot.

"I'd like to walk you up. Meet your parents. You know, stuff." He beamed, his perpetual happiness almost making her upset. Why did he have to follow her everywhere? She liked being with him and all, but she needed to get back, and as long as he was around, she couldn't do that.

But for the life of her, she couldn't think of anything that would persuade him to stay down here without utterly driving him away, something she swore she would _not_ do. So she said the only thing she could. "Umm… okay." They walked inside and up three flights of stairs before arriving at room 4D8. She suddenly hit upon an idea, digging around in her bag for a key, then groaning in what she hoped sounded like aggravation.

"I can't believe this. I locked my key inside. And it'll be another four hours before my mom gets back from work." Now she was implementing the part of her plan that she hoped and prayed would get him to leave without hurting his feelings.

"Well, I'm sure you don't want to just wait here for another four hours. Why don't you come over to my place." _Another plan backfired_.

She had no real choice but to say yes, and besides, she was curious to see where he lived and what his family was like. So they returned to his motorcycle, got on, and rode across town to the suburbs.

The sight of an enormous mansion greeted her eyes and took her breath away. The lawn alone was probably six acres, and the house itself took up another two. The long driveway was not concrete, but cut stone worn down into a smooth path as even as glass. The inside of the house was even more impressive than the outside, with mahogany floors and marble staircases. As Tylan walked in the door and took off his shoes, he shouted, "Mom, Dad, I'm home!"

An older man, probably in his fifties, came to the top of the staircase, and looked down at his son and the girl with him. "Oh, I see you've brought company. Well, make yourselves comfortable; your mother and I are going out tonight."

"Ok, dad. Have fun!" Tylan turned to Raven and said, "So, what do you want to do?"

She had homework to do, and so they finished that together, he helping her with some math problems she had trouble comprehending. Silently, she cursed math as her greatest weakness. Science, history, literature, logic, all of those had an elegance, a structure, a _purpose_. Math had no purpose; it was as if someone had thrown a bunch of symbols together for fun.

After homework, they sat in the living room on the couch talking. The topic turned to reading, and he took her upstairs to the library. The bookshelves contained literally hundreds, maybe thousands of books. Her eyes ran along the spines of the books, some of them familiar, others by authors she knew, some she had never heard of, specifically, the technical journals and DYI books for all kinds of technological things. Clearly, Tylan was not the stereotypical football player.

Finally, he took her down into the basement, where he had his so-called "workshop." Several unrecognizable objects lay in the corner, one stood against the wall with a sheet over it. A jumble of parts stood in the center of the floor.

"That's my newest project!" he said proudly. "I'm going to build myself a jetbike." When she gave him an uncomprehending look, he clarified, "It's like a motorcycle that hovers and runs on jet power. Right now I'm having trouble figuring out the best way to make it hover." His eyebrows furrowed. "I've designed a small, lightweight, and relatively economical jet engine, and it works fine, but I can't use sheer downthrust without consuming too much fuel, and I don't want to use wings because of the issue of space." He sighed. "It'll take me awhile, I'm sure, but hopefully I can get it to work sometime soon. And then we can take a ride on it." His face glowed with excitement at the prospect, and although she had not terribly enjoyed the ride here, she found herself almost looking forward to a ride as well.

They continued talking about things of all kinds. Books dominated the conversation, as it was the common aspect that drew these two opposite people together. Six hours passed without their knowledge, and finally, Tylan looked at the clock.

"Crap! Raven, it's been two hours since your mom's been back! I gotta get you home!" He sprinted to the door, pulled on his shoes, then sprinted to the garage.

"No, it's okay… really." She mumbled to the empty room. She ran up the stars after him, entered the garage, and climbed on the back of the motorcycle. Once again they tore through the night. She was afraid she wouldn't remember the directions to the apartment building, but fortunately, she didn't have to; Tylan, having only been there once, knew the way and arrived there without a single direction.

He dropped her off at the apartment building, and, to her relief, didn't walk her inside again. She mounted the steps to the building, then turned and waved goodbye. He nodded back at her with his helmeted head, and pulled a screeching U-turn before racing off into the darkness. She waited until he was out of sight, then made her way back to the tower.


	3. Chapter 3 Newest Threat

The four Titans approached the silhouetted figure with stealth and care. Inside Syntech Industries' lab, a silent siren had gone off an hour before, alerting the Titans to the presence of the intruder. The Titans understood the need for surprise; the figure standing at the computer consoles had any number of escape routes, and should the Titans come charging in, he could easily escape.

Robin, crouched behind a preservation tank, whispered to Cyborg, "What's the reading on your sensors?"

Cyborg turned to Robin, his artificial eye glowing red. "He's wearing some sort of suit. It looks like armor; not just the ordinary villain costume. This could get interesting."

The silhouette was handling a number of large vials. The liquid inside glowed a fluorescent blue. The figure seemed to consider whether these vials were the ones he sought before placing them inside a shatter-preventing case. As he turned to the door, the Titans emerged from their hiding places.

"Stop!" Robin commanded. He whipped his staff out from his utility belt, and it snapped to full length. The other Titans likewise readied themselves for battle.

At this, the armored figure laughed, a laugh almost genuine in its tone, though distorted by the helmet he wore.

"Why?"

"You have no right to be here, especially since you're stealing. I am hereby placing you under arrest. Surrender or we'll be forced to take you down!" Robin pivoted his feet to a combat stance and readied his bo staff.

"Take me down? I'd like to see that." The helmeted figure advanced toward the team. "So, if you don't mind, I'll just be going now."

"Not a chance. Titans, go!" Robin leaped into action that suited his words, whirling the long metal staff around his head before swinging it at the intruder.

The expected collision between staff and enemy never occurred, for as the metal pole sliced through the air, the intruder suddenly vanished, only to reappear at Robin's left, already aiming a punch at his midsection. It connected with astounding force, hurling Robin to the opposite side of the room, where he smashed several lab benches' worth of equipment.

Starfire aimed several starbolts at the mysterious man, only to have every single one dodged in rapid succession. The burglar then leapt high into the air, spinning into a kick that missed her by less than an inch. He came down lightly, intercepted the lion-form Beast Boy's attack with a roundhouse kick, then blocked Cyborg's incoming barrage of punches. He grabbed the last one, then spun quickly, throwing Cyborg into the recoverd and charging Robin. Both Titans crumpled to the floor.

Starfire unleashed green energy from her eyes, but to no avail; the intruder was far too fast. In fact, as she watched, his movements seemed a blur; he moved too fast for the eye to follow. Beast Boy, after quickly morphing into a gorilla, swung at the enemy from behind, only to have his punch go over the thief's head. The thief then aimed a powerful reverse elbow strike at the green simian, smashing into Beast Boy's abdomen and causing him to assume human form. A quick flick of the intruder's wrist, and Beast Boy was flying toward the other Titans, hitting Robin.

The intruder then dashed to the exit. "Smell you later," he sneered, then quickly vanished into the shadows.

Robin, now standing, pounded his fist into his palm in frustration. "What was that?" he asked, of no one in particular.

"I don't know, dude, but he sure kicked our butts." Beast Boy was rubbing his head, and from the expression on his face, he wasn't just doing it for his own amusement.

"Man, I don't even know how he did it! Nobody's that fast! He was faster than Robin, stronger than me, and seemed to know every single one of our weaknesses. How did he do it?" Cyborg demanded.

Starfire floated up next to Robin. "Perhaps we should return to the Tower and commence the review?"

Robin sighed. "Let's go, team. We failed on this one. Time to see how we can turn it around next time."

The intruder returned to his own laboratory that night, gleeful at his theft of the blue vials. "With these," he muttered, "I can upgrade my armor even further. Those pitiful Titans wouldn't have stood a chance if I hadn't gone easy on them." He extracted the entirety of the blue substance from one of the vials, then placed it into a distiller. The blue liquid began to bubble and boil, until nothing but a silvery-black metallic liquid was left. This, the figure began to painstakingly mold and mix with other chemicals, working feverishly through the night….


	4. Chapter 4 Aftermath

I've forgotten about this the past 3 chapters, but I remembered this time.

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the Teen Titans, Slade, Jump City, or any other property of DC Comics. The original characters are mine, and that's all.

The next day, Raven woke up in her room and began to get dressed for school. She quickly adopted her favorite school outfit; black t-shirt, black skirt, and black Dockers. The idea of seeing Tylan today made her heart beat fast. She nearly skipped down the hall; quite uncharacteristic of her. Robin was still reviewing the battle film from the previous night, his eyelids drooping dangerously low.

Beast Boy was sleeping on the couch, drool hanging out the corner of his mouth, while Starfire was nowhere to be seen. Cyborg was already up, cooking a large breakfast of pancakes, sausage, eggs, bacon, and orange juice. Fatigue was evident in his features as well; his human eye had a dark ring around it, and his movements were slower than usual.

"What's the matter?" Raven asked of everyone and no one.

At Raven's voice, Robin looked up and Beast Boy awoke with a snort. "We got our asses handed to us last night. By a high-tech burglar. He broke into Syntech last night and stole something we haven't yet been able to identify," Robin said wearily.

Beast Boy nodded vigorously. "Yeah, he really kicked our butts!" He quailed under Cyborg's furious glare. "What? It's true!"

Cyborg sighed. "Yeah, unfortunately, he did. Rae, he had all our strengths and none of our weaknesses! He was faster than Robin, stronger than Beast Boy or me, and could leap as high as Star could fly! I don't know who he is, but whoever he is, he really did his research on us."

Raven nodded thoughtfully. "Tell you what. I'll review that film after school. Then I can point out his weaknesses, and you can exploit them."

Robin shook his head. "No, Raven. We don't need your analysis. We need you. We need you to help us fight this guy. If he shows up again, which I'm sure he will, we've got to have an answer to him. You're the only one whom he hasn't seen yet. If we can keep the element of surprise, then we have a chance of beating him. Plus, five is always better than four." He looked hopeful.

Raven pondered, then shook her head in reply. "I told you already, Robin, I'm done fighting. I'm too dangerous to be put in a combat situation. I'll help you in any way I can but that one. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to be at school." She turned to go.

The other Titans watched with extreme disappointment as their friend turned her back and entered a life they never could.

Raven arrived at Jump City High two minutes before the first bell rang. She sat next to Tylan in Chemistry, who flashed her frequent grins. Pale Face sat in the back, eyeing Raven with an expression somewhere between desire and hatred. He remained that way throughout the day, every time Raven saw him—hovering on the edge of murderous.

Raven wanted to say something to Tylan, to warn him about Pale Face's behavior, but every time she thought she was going to say it, she forgot as soon as she saw his smile. He was in too good of a mood to spoil with that revelation, anyway, so she let it go.

After school, she returned to Tylan's mansion, where they studied together for about an hour, then resumed their deep conversations from the night before. Raven never ceased to be amazed at how smart he was, yet how well he could speak regular English. He could be equally at home in a classroom or at a party. _He can do anything_, she thought, as she stared at him, not truly paying attention to the words he was saying. That is, until he jolted her out of her musing.

"I'm sorry. I'm boring you again. Would you rather talk about something else?" He looked into her eyes, and his deep azure gaze met her dark violet stare.

If she were to tell the truth, she'd rather not talk at all, but just sit and look at him for endless hours. But, she was pretty sure that wouldn't happen, so instead, she said, "No, you're fine. Please, keep talking…"

He sensed her reluctance, and instead of continuing, he continued looking deep into her eyes. She turned away, unable to bear his penetrating stare. He put his arm around her, and pulled her close to him. She looked up into his face, then closed her eyes and waited.

Their lips met, cautiously at first, then with increasing passion. Her arms snaked up around his neck, and only the need for oxygen separated them at last. She met his steady gaze, and quietly asked "Have you ever kissed a girl before?"

His eyes glazed over for a second, then cleared as he responded, "Not until now." He embraced her from behind, and whispered into her ear, "have you ever kissed a boy before?"

At this, dark memories came rushing back, memories of Malchior, his manipulation of her, his fake love, and his betrayal. Tears rolled down her face as the emotions she thought she had carefully locked away burst her mental barriers like river bursts a flawed dam. She pulled away, and he saw the tears in her eyes and immediately began to apologize, "I'm so sorry, I didn't…"

"No." She wiped her eyes and tried to compose herself. "It's not your fault. It's his. I thought he loved me, and I loved him, but he ended up betraying me. He almost killed my friends. I hate him, but I can't entirely let go of what I used to feel."

"I… understand." He seemed unsure, as if he didn't know whether he could relate or not. But the words helped to banish the rising emotions back into their mental prison. She moved back toward him, and let his arms surround her once again.

"So… if you don't mind my asking… do you have any similar stories you wouldn't mind telling?" She wanted to change the subject so badly, but desperately had to know.

He paused, once again, uncertainty filling his words. "I… I don't… no, I don't." Here, his confidence returned as he spoke. "I definitely wouldn't call it love. Just your typical high school romance and drama. Nothing huge or… life-shattering."

She sighed to herself. _He is the perfect guy._ Then another thought struck her. _Maybe I should take him to meet the Titans._ Almost immediately, an opposing thought forced itself into her conscious awareness. _If he finds out what I am, he'll abandon me for sure. Nobody could love a girl who was destined to bring the most feared demon into the world to destroy it. Nobody would stay with someone who was so high-profile and high-risk. Besides, I couldn't risk his life. If my enemies knew what he was to me… he'd be a marked man._ The thought filled her with dread, and at the same time, a sense of determination. _No matter how much I want to, I cannot tell him. __For both of our good._

"You all right down there?" He was peering at her over the top of her head, and she nodded in response. "Good." He kissed her neck, then got up from the couch.

"Where are you going?" Unintentionally, worry filled her voice, as if when he departed the room, this wonderful dream would disappear into the harshness of reality.

"Relax. I'm going to make us some food. I'm in the mood for pizza… how about you?" He entered the kitchen, from which she heard loud rummaging noises.

"I'm alright. Really." She didn't like pizza that much, and she didn't want to inconvenience him, or, for that matter, keep him out of the room any longer than absolutely necessary.

The rest of the night passed quickly, and when it was nine o'clock, Tylan drove Raven back to her "apartment." They kissed goodnight. As he drove away, she watched him, until he turned a corner and was out of sight. She then slid deeper into the shadows and made her way back to the tower.

A shadowy figure watched her go from the top of a nearby building. His shock couldn't register on his face because of the helmet he wore, but the thought was almost audible in his mind. _So… that's the way things are… things just got much more complicated… but so much more interesting…_

Author's Note: I'm sorry this is all coming out so fast. I'm sure that means there will be a long period of time in which I will have nothing to post. In the meantime, however, just keep hoping my creativity faucet stays on.

The two reviews I have received so far have been encouraging. If you have something to say, even if it's critical, please say it. I'm trying to improve my writing skills as much as anyone.

R&R, reviews are awesome.


	5. Chapter 5 Perfect Thief

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Teen Titans, Slade, Jump City, or any other related reference. I never will; the original characters are the only things I own.

When Raven returned to the tower, the Titans were gone. She assumed they were out chasing some petty criminal, so she sat down to review the battle tape from the previous night.

As she watched, she was amazed at the intruder's abilities. No normal human being could move that , fast or be that strong. She suspected the armor the intruder wore might have had something to do with, but she could see no obvious strength-enhancing hydraulics. In fact, it looked like a simple suit of plastic composite armor, lightweight but strong. A hunch led her to re-examine the fight on multiple light frequencies, but nothing was out of the ordinary. There was no excess infrared radiation that would suggest an engine or motor of any kind.

_So how does he do all those things?_ she wondered. It was true; there were some metahumans that naturally possessed superhuman strength and speed, but these were quite rare, and any metahuman of this capability would have to be entered in the Justice League databanks. She quickly hacked into the main computer and started a search for criminals based on abilities.

After securing a half-dozen suspects, she began to extract biometric profiles from the criminal databanks and compared them to that of the intruder. None matched. For one, all of them were too large to be the intruder. For another, most made no secret of their superhuman abilities and wouldn't have bothered to wear a suit to disguise themselves.

It didn't make any sense, except that the armor granted the user his abilities. But a quick multi-frequency analysis of magnetic fluctuation in the armor revealed very little circuitry, so little that it could be explained as the feeds necessary for a simple biometrics display. Nothing about the suit seemed terribly out of the ordinary.

Raven sat back in her chair, sighing in frustration. She began to meditate, attempting to hold at bay the anger that came with that frustration and would, if left unchecked, rampage through her mind and destroy her control.

At that moment, the Titans were fighting the very same intruder whose identity Raven sought. The thief had once again broken into Syntech Industries, but this time, instead of white, his armor was a very dark shade of grey and had a metallic glint to it. And rather than fight them, the intruder spent all the time dodging or blocking the Titans' attacks. Not that they had any more success defeating him than they had last time.

Starfire hurled green balls of fury at the armored figure, while Robin threw explosive disks and bird-a-rangs at him from the opposite direction. The fanned pattern of Robin's projectiles provided the enemy with no opportunity to escape, and sure enough, both starbolts and explosives converged on the burglar with deadly force. But when the smoke cleared, there stood the intruder, unharmed, with a translucent sphere of glowing blue energy surrounding him.

Cyborg's one human eye widened. "He's got force fields!" His sonic cannon unleashed several sustained blasts, but these proved ineffective against his opponent's defenses. Beast Boy's tiger-like strength also failed to penetrate the fluorescent blue shield.

The interloper chuckled and straightened, the force field dissipating with a wave of his hand. "You know, it really shouldn't surprise you. That is, if you realized what I stole last time." He gestured toward the tank filled with the same fluorescent blue fluid that he had purloined during his last visit. "That's psitanium in the form of psitanium tetranitrite. The liquid can be purified to yield liquid psitanium." He pointed to his near-black armor. "I coated my armor in it, and that's why you can't beat me now. Not that you could have anyway. So, if you don't mind, I'll just leave with another load." He dashed over to the large tank, and before the Titans could do anything, both tank and intruder vanished in a flash of blue light.

"Did he just do what I think he did?" Robin asked in disbelief. The shock on the other Titans' faces confirmed his fear.

They had just encountered the perfect thief.

What is psitanium? How does it help this mysterioius masked marauder? Will the author stop using corny alliteration? Find out next time…

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, but that's all I could come up with at the moment. So far, feedback has been good, but only 2 people have reviewed. Please, read, and review, even if what you have to say is critical.


	6. Chapter 6 The Museum

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Teen Titans. I never will. Unfortunately, but that's beside the point. The original characters and the plot are mine, but nothing else is.

The alarm inside Titans Tower blared while Raven was meditating, yanking her from her state of calm and back into reality. The locator showed the criminal's position exactly, and although she had vowed never to fight, she realized that without her friends there, she wouldn't have to worry about losing control and hurting them. The only one getting hurt would be whoever it was foolish enough to interrupt her meditation.

She flew through the night, finally landing outside the building the thief was burgling. _A museum?_she wondered. Then again, museums were full of valuable items and artifacts, though a typical thief would care very little for such things.

As she entered the dark building, she saw nothing. She searched the main floors of the building, but found no damage to anything, and nothing stolen. She finally checked the offices, and what she saw made her blood run cold.

The familiar sight of an orange-and-black mask with one eye greeted her, though it was not looking in her direction. Instead, it was focused on a computer screen, and the man who wore it was typing furiously, occasionally cackling evilly. Slade.

Deciding to not give the fiend any warning, she levitated a chair in the office and hurled it at him. Only the rattling of the wheels gave Slade warning, and even then he barely had time to smash his fist through it before Raven was on him, slashing at his head and chest with dark magic.

He knocked aside her blows, then retrieved his bo staff from his belt, whirling it at her head. She dodged in enough time to catch his legs in darkness and pull them out from under him. As he climbed to his feet, Raven saw a chillingly recognizable mark on his forehead. She screamed in anger and fright, unleashing a torrent of dark energy at the servant of Skath.

Slade's staff came alive with fire, and he swept it around in a wide arc, leaving behind a wall of flames which easily blocked Raven's attack. He stepped through the curtain of fire and approached Raven in his inimitably calm and frightening manner.

"So, Raven. I'd heard after your little… incident the other night, that you had left the Teen Titans. I suppose I heard incorrectly, but that would be a surprise for me. I love surprises, but only when I'm the one planning t hem, and so I'm a little angry." His one eye narrowed. "I don't suppose you've figured out why I'm here?"

"No, but whatever the reason, it's evil." Raven glared at the former servant of her father, now utilizing stolen powers. Raven held no love for her father, but Slade's use of magic that wasn't his was… wrong. "But answer me one question, Slade. Why a museum?"

Slade chuckled, a laugh that had no humor in it. "Oh, you know. I love history. They say that those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it. After too many encounters with you Titans, I'm inclined to agree. So I've come to… study… a little bit of history."

"And by study, you obviously mean steal. But that's too easy, Slade. Too easy for you. You would never concoct such a simple plan as stealing some statues or paintings. That's beneath you, isn't it? There has to be some overarching plan. And I bet you're just dying to tell me so you can watch me agonize over figuring it out." Raven threw her words out with boldness, knowing they would strike close to home on the black-clad villain.

"You're a smart little girl, Raven. But unfortunately, that's all you'll ever be. A little girl." He looked down at her. "Even as smart as you are, you fail to see that the only way to increase your influence is to learn to utilize your power to its fullest. If I were you, that's exactly what _I _would do." He held up a disk. "But, time is short. I must be going, now that I have all that I need." With those words, he blasted an enormous hole in the window of the office, and leaped to the ground six stories below. Raven rushed to the window, but Slade was gone from sight.

Raven dashed to the computer, her fingers furiously flying over the keys. She had to figure out what Slade had stolen. If she had any luck, it would be backed up on several disks.

As it turned out, she didn't need to look far at all. The files that Slade had stolen he hadn't even bothered to delete, as if to taunt her, saying "It doesn't matter if you know, because you can't stop me." But when she opened them, she was immediately puzzled. Slade had logged into the inter-museum network, looking not for gold or jewels or other expensive items, but for… "Pottery?" she muttered. She shook her head. "Slade, I always knew you were crazy, but this is over the top."

She left the room after shutting off the computer, and returned to the tower, weary and confused.

Why did Raven decide to track down the criminal? Why is Slade looking for pottery? Why does the author keep asking these rhetorical questions? Find out next time, on….

DRAGONBALL Z!

Justkidding.

A/N: Again, I cranked this chapter out. The creativity fairy seems to have been visiting a lot lately. Just hope it continues.

Read and Review, please.


	7. Chapter 7 Eavesdropping

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans, or anything directly related to them. That all belongs to Warner Brothers, or Cartoon Network, or DC Comics. The original characters and the plot are mine.

Raven got very little sleep that night. Suddenly, she was turning into Robin, obsessing over why Slade was doing what he was doing. _Why would he rob a museum, of all places, and then, take only a disk's worth of data?_ It didn't make any sense. As she lay on her bed, her mind refused to fall asleep, until finally, it and her body called a truce, and she fell into that half-asleep state common to all high-stress people.

The other Titans returned shortly after Raven fell asleep, tired and frustrated. Robin stayed up all night again, watching and reviewing both recordings of the fights. His mind took note of changes in tactics, appearance, abilities, and more.

When morning came, Robin was still awake, though barely. The other Titans were sleeping in, as it was a Saturday. Raven managed to acquire sufficient rest to become functional, and when she emerged from her room, she got to work helping the near-unconscious Robin, firstly by making him some coffee.

As the two brainstormed, Raven told Robin of the occurrences with Slade. She provided him all the data she had found Slade stealing, and this confused Robin too. "Why would Slade go to all the trouble to break into a museum, then take information about pottery?" he asked.

Raven shrugged. "I don't know. I can't claim to know the mind of Slade, but what he told me was that he was… he was learning from history. He said that after too many battles against us, he… agreed with the people who said to learn from history. It could just be Slade-babble, but something tells me he was trying to hint at something."

"He could just be messing with our minds. That would be _just like him_. He'd want us to stress ourselves out in vain attempts to figure out cryptic clues that lead to dead end after dead end." Robin pounded his fist on the table. "He's done it to us before, and he's bound to do it again. I'm not falling for Slade's mind games again!" He calmed slightly. "Anyway, this other criminal is worrying me almost as much as Slade is. He knows us far too well for someone we've never encountered before. The second time we saw him, he had more abilities, but he didn't use them against us. It's like… he was trying not to fight us. He spent the entire battle defending instead of attacking. I hate to admit it, but he could have beaten us all if he had chosen to."

Raven nodded. "I figured that out after watching the first battle. He was too fast even then, and if what you say is true, then he's bound to be faster now. His strength surpasses Cyborg's, and with that combination, unless you got extremely lucky, you can't defeat him." Then an even more frightening thought dawned on her. "Didn't you say his new abilities came after he stole that blue substance?"

Robin's eyes widened. "He just stole an entire tank of that stuff! If his abilities come from it… the entire city is doomed."

At that very moment, the thief had hacked into the Titan's mainframe from his own base of operations. He watched the two Titans' conversation, then turned his attention to the database of criminal activity. After pulling Slade's files, he copied them down, then deleted them. He studied the past files on Slade, then compared it to the new information he had. His brain compared old to new, integrated likely patterns of behavior in known egomaniacal criminals, and finally analyzed the surprising pottery revelation. Knowing Slade was fascinated with magic and power, he searched the Internet for any information on pottery believed or rumored to have magical power. Nothing. Then another thought popped to the front of his whirring mind. _Pottery often have__ pictures and inscriptions_. He began a painstaking image search for _every piece_ of pottery in every museum. He then downloaded all the images to his neural uplink and sifted through them at high speed until he found exactly what he was looking for. And as luck would have it, it was in Jump City. _Time to get to work_.

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, but if I combined the next one and this one into one chapter, it would have been over 2,000 words long. So I broke it up into two.

Stay tuned, for the next chapter will be the best!

R&R, please.


	8. Chapter 8 The Impossible

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans or anything directly related. OC's and plot belong to me, and me alone.

Slade broke into the mansion with relative ease, bringing with him a battalion of his robotic minions. The old man who owned the house wasn't there, but his rich collection of antique items remained. As Slade searched through the house, he stared at the millions of dollars worth of pottery and other ancient artifacts; shields, plates, and other things that held no interest for him. He was here for one thing and one thing alone: the pottery that would show him the location of the item he truly sought.

But as he entered the final room, he noticed the case in which the item should have been was both open and empty, and that the window to the outside was also open.

"Damnit!" He shouted, then rushed to the window. A shadowy figure, clad in some sort of armor, was fleeing the scene at full speed, which, even to Slade's superhuman vision, was almost a blur.

He burst through the remnants of the window, and ran after the interloper. He knew he could not catch the thief, but he refused to quit, refused to be denied the key to his ultimate victory. But to his surprise, he didn't have to chase the thief for long, because as he turned the corner in a dark alley, he saw his enemy walking slowly into an abandoned warehouse. _He must have thought he would lose me, _Slade thought. _Either __that,__ or he wants to face off against me. __Either way, not smart._ He smiled to himself. _This will be fun._ He entered the warehouse silently, but was surprised to find the intruder was nowhere in sight.

"Well hello there…_Slade_." An electronically distorted voice from behind him caused him to whirl around. The interloper stood there, holding the alabaster jar in his hand, his head obscured by an insectoid-looking helmet, and his dark gray armor glinting dully in the low light of the warehouse. "Looking for this?"

"How did you know?" Slade was not terribly curious, as the details would not matter once the interloper paid for his interference. But still, an insatiable desire for knowledge drove him to ask.

"Slade, Slade, Slade. You're so predictable. You love to give people clues as to what your plans are, and you enjoy watching them squirm, vainly trying to figure it out, and when they do, realizing they can't stop you. The only problem is you don't count on anyone actually being both smart enough to figure it out and strong enough to defeat you." The man chuckled. "Guess you hadn't counted on me."

"You think you can stop me?"It was less a question than a challenge. "I'll give you a choice. You can hand me that jar, and not only will I not kill you , I'll make you my apprentice. Between the two of us, we can take over the world. Together, we'd be unstoppable. Or, you can continue to defy me, and there can be only one logical conclusion to that."

"You mean I kick the crap out of you and send you to prison." The intruder crossed his arms in defiance and perhaps an element of cockiness. "If the Teen Titans couldn't beat me, Slade, what makes you think you could?"

"The simple fact that the Teen Titans have never defeated me, either." Slade's one eye narrowed. "I've had enough of your insolence. It's time for you to die." Slade extracted his bo staff from his utility belt, then, staff extended, charged the intruder.

Only he was no longer there. In the twinkling of an eye, the thief was gone from Slade's field of view, and a powerful blow caught him from behind, pitching him forward. "Too slow, Slade. I guess you're losing your touch in your old age."

Slade whirled around. "Not likely." His forehead began to glow red with the mark of Skath, and red flame burst forth from his hands toward the annoyance. But where Slade had failed to touch the intruder, flames did also. The figure dashed between the streams of fire, then, his fist glowing with blue energy, hit Slade so hard he flew through the back wall of the warehouse.

Tiny servos whirred and clicked on the back of the intruder's suit as canisters of the blue fluid were slowly injected directly into his blood. The substance fueled his power, kept him going, when ordinarily such a display of power would have left him unconscious with strain.

Slade strode through the enormous hole in the wall, cracking his neck before speaking. "Quite an impressive hit, my young friend. Seeing this power only makes me want you all the more. See reason. Join me and fight by my side, and I will give you more power than you could ever achieve on your own."

"If I cared about having power, I might accept your offer. However, I'm not interested. My only aim is to give justice to those who need it. Like you." The intruder's words rang in Slade's ears, sounding so strange for someone who had just stolen over a million dollars' worth of antique pottery. The intruder then gestured with his hand, and Slade flew into the opposite wall with bone-cracking force. "Besides, I don't need your help. As you can see, I'm already far more powerful than you are."

"You may have psionic powers, my young adversary, but that doesn't mean I couldn't beat you, or that you couldn't learn from me." Slade recovered quickly from his foe's last strike, then projected fire over his staff, holding it like a sword. "But let's see if you can handle the _heat._"

The two clashed, Slade's flaming staff crashing into the intruder's blue force field. They separated, then went at it again, only to have Slade trip mid-step. When he looked at his feet, they were wrapped in what appeared to be a metallic rope. The rope wasn't attached to anything else, but all of a sudden, Slade felt himself being lifted up by his feet.

He could still see his opponent, who wasn't physically lifting Slade up. In fact, the intruder was forty feet below, the only sign of his involvement the gesturing of his hand, pointing up at Slade. Slade melted the metal restraint on his feet with fire, only to have it immediately reform around his hands, causing him to drop his staff.

The intruder stared up at the helpless Slade. "I told you that I didn't need your help. I'm smarter than you, and apparently better than you, too. It's kind of pathetic, really, to think that the Teen Titans' greatest enemy is this pathetically weak." He shook his head in disappointment. "I'd have expected more of the legendarily villainous _Slade_."

Slade shook with fury, both from being taunted, and from being, for once in his life, utterly helpless. Then he remembered his ace in the hole. "I wouldn't gloat just yet. You haven't counted on _them._"

Slade's army of minions had just arrived, and quickly surrounded Slade's enemy, all pointing their weapons at him. Slade chuckled. "I guess you haven't won after all."

The intruder dropped Slade, and leapt high into the air. Slade's robotic slaves fired at the thief, laser beams converging on his position, only to hit empty air. H e landed lightly, as did Slade, and the two ran at each other. This time, the intruder sprayed a glob of the same metallic liquid that had bound Slade into the palm of his hand, where it quickly morphed into a blade as long as his arm. It cut through Slade's burning bo staff with ease, continuing until it clove Slade's mask in two. The mask didn't fall off, however, and Slade aimed a blazing punch back at his foe, knocking him off his feet. He stood over his downed opponent, and sneered.

"I guess you're not as tough as you thought you were." Slade's robots encircled them, weapons pointed down at the intruder. "Now, hand over the jar."

The thief snorted. "Do I look like I have it with me? It's a good thing I planned on winning, because otherwise I'd have hidden it really well. But, as it is, I don't need to." Slade's robots aimed their weapons at their former master and fired, catching him unawares in a deadly crossfire. Slade's last conscious thought was _How__How…_

How did the intruder get Slade's robots to turn against him? How did he know what Slade was looking for? What is so special about that jar? Find out next time.

A/N: I like asking questions at the end of the chapter, because that way you get those questions implanted in your mind, and you start wondering. Then you're dying to know, and you will keep coming back to read more!

Sorry the long chapter, but there really wasn't a way to break it up into two.

Rate and Review, plz. I love reviews.


	9. Chapter 9 Surprise!

Robin looked up in astonishment from his T-communicator. "I don't believe it!" he shouted to the empty main room.

Cyborg and Beast Boy, running into the room at the sound of Robin's shout, skidded to a stop when they saw Robin wasn't about to kill someone. "Don't believe what?" Beast Boy quizzed.

"Slade's been caught! He's being sent to prison right now." Robin was halfway between elation and rage: elation that Slade was finally defeated, but rage that he, Robin, wasn't the one to do it.

"So how did it happen?" Cyborg asked, scratching his head. "I mean, _we've_ never caught Slade. And nobody in the city has. Who could have done it?"

Robin stormed to the door. "I don't know, but I'm going down to the station to interrogate Slade. Whoever did this, they're far more dangerous than he is."

Robin rode his R-cycle furiously through the streets of Jump City, his mind racing even faster than his motorcycle. _How could Slade have been captured? He's never been that unguarded. It's got to be a ploy, but what's the motive behind it? Why would he let himself be captured?_ The questions just wouldn't answer themselves, so Robin was left to wait until he arrived at the police station, where Slade was being held under high security guard.

Robin was let through to interrogate Slade via the telephone windows. Slade's hands were bound, and six armed guards kept him from trying anything. One lightly armed police officer held the telephone to Slade's ear.

Slade's mask had refused to come off, as if it were surgically attached to the black-clad fiend. But Robin was, for once, interested in something other than Slade.

"Alright, Slade, I'm not here to taunt you or question you about your robbery. In fact, I'm not here about anything you've done in the past, though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't glad you were finally here. But what I came to ask was how you ended up here. Who defeated you? How?"

Slade shook his head, a mute expression of defiance, or was it simple lack of knowledge? Either way, he didn't answer the question.

"Answer me, Slade! I need to know who did this. Not so they can be rewarded, but so that we know who it is. They're the biggest threat to the city right now, not you, so if you can tell me _who it was_, then I'll actually go so far as to ensure you don't get the death penalty." Robin was desperate now, and it showed. Slade chuckled.

"I don't _know_ who it was, little Robin. If I did, he would not be alive. He wore a helmet that concealed his face. I _would_ have, I _should_ have defeated him. But he turned my robots against me." Slade shook his head furiously, and the guards tensed in the background. But Slade made no more sudden moves, and they calmed down. "I don't know _how_ he did it. I know he has psionic abilities, similar to but much more useful and flexible than your Raven's powers. But that doesn't explain how he could control my minions. They're robotic! They listen to only me, and you can't use mind control on robots!" Slade was truly mystified, and that fact probably scared Robin more than anything. If Slade didn't know, then how was he supposed to find out?

Robin left Slade's cell in a daze. What kind of madness _was_ this? Slade captured, almost certainly by the very same criminal who had stolen the blue substance from Syntech. Slade defeated by his own robotic minions, who had turned against him at the will of the Perfect Thief. The thief had stolen an alabaster jar worth millions, in what appeared an attempt to keep Slade from taking it, but the jar hadn't been returned, so that officially made the thief a criminal. And from what Slade had said, the thief considered himself on the side of justice! Robin's head was spinning madly, so he headed back to the Tower to get his bearing… on a punching bag.

At that very moment, a news flash was being displayed on the Titans' main TV screen, Raven actually watching it for a change. A few minutes ago, something had possessed her to turn it on. When she did, she was shocked by the headline: "Slade captured at last! Unknown Hero to be honored." Her interest piqued, she continued to watch, bound to the glowing contraption. "What could have been disaster last night turned instead to victory, as not only was a robbery attempt on a rich family in Jump City foiled by a mysterious masked man, but this same vigilante defeated and captured the rogue villain known only as Slade. The Teen Titans have claimed no credit for this capture, and when asked, their leader, Robin, declined to answer." blared a newswoman in the most professional voice Raven had ever heard.

"At first, the masked man took this alabaster jar, worth millions—" the screen showed a white jar with black designs on it—"which made him a prime suspect in the theft. When Slade was found unconscious, it was assumed that he was the thief, but a search of the immediate area left no clues as to the whereabouts of the jar. The owners, shown here, are disappointed at the loss of the treasured antique, but are very grateful that nobody was hurt and that Slade was captured." But Raven could not hear the last words, for she had seen the faces of the family. The old man was familiar, the woman was not, but even in photograph, the son made her heart skip a beat. "Tylan's house was broken into last night by Slade! I need to see him. I hope he's okay…" she whispered to herself. She got up from the couch, leaving the TV glaring, and ran to the door."

She teleported to within a block of Tylan's house, which was swarming with reporters. She then walked the rest of the way, hoping to see him amidst the crowd of media, but saw no sign of him. So she went in the back way, with the key Tylan had given her, saying "Come over any time you like. Our door's always open to you." She snuck into the back door, calling out for Tylan. When no one answered, she crept downstairs, hoping to find him in his "workshop."

The first sight that greeted her upon entering the cluttered basement was the completed jetbike. Apparently, he had found a way to make it work. Later she would inquire about it, but for now, she was still looking for him. She wandered through the vast basement, which was very dimly lit for such an expensive house. Shadows abounded, and objects under white sheets prevailed throughout the room. She looked under a few of them, seeing collector's edition cars, or pinball machines, or other useless paraphernalia. But a human-shaped object obscured by a sheet in the corner caught her eye, and she slowly moved toward it. She pulled the sheet off… and gasped in horror when she found herself looking into the helmet of the mysterious intruder!

She pulled back a few steps, but the armored figure didn't move. It must have been empty. But that could only mean one thing. Tylan was…

"Raven?" …right behind her. She whirled around, the look of betrayal in her eyes cutting through him. As he glanced over her shoulder, he saw the armor, and his eyes widened, she guessed in realization that his alter ego was now discovered.

But that notion was put to flight in an instant as the seemingly empty armor flashed from the corner and attacked Raven. Before she could turn around, and before the Perfect Thief could cut off her head with a swift blow of his forearm blade, Tylan caught her around the waist and tackled her to the ground, the razor-sharp weapon of the intruder catching his shoulder and slashing a gaping wound in it. Tylan cried out in pain. The Perfect Thief kicked Tylan in the side before aiming a glowing-blue hand at Raven. "I've had enough of your interference… _Raven_," the armored figure stated with scorn. When her eyes widened, he chuckled. "Oh, yes, I know your name. Not because I know you, but because you're one of the _Teen Titans_." Shock registered on both Tylan's and Raven's faces, and the intruder laughed again. "You thought no one would ever find out? That your lover boy here would never figure out where you _really _lived?" He laughed again, and there was no amusement, only scorn. "You may not have fought me the first few times, but I'm not taking the chance… _demoness_." The last word was hissed venomously. "My mission is far more complicated than you could possibly understand, either of you. And so, to keep you both quiet, I'm going to kill you." His hand glowed brighter. "Starting with you, Raven." He let loose a blast from his hand.

Tylan lunged between the thief and Raven, intercepting the blow, which knocked him back. At this point, Raven became so angry that she skipped meditation altogether, simply shifting into Rage Mode. Her two violet eyes became four red ones, and she grew to three times her height, tentacles of darkness snaking out of her hands. The intruder was able to dodge four before having to blast the rest away with his hand beams. He hopped on Tylan's jetbike and took off with it, punching his way out of the walk-out basement garage.

Raven reverted to her normal self, and knelt over Tylan. He was still breathing, and aside from his shoulder wound, he wasn't bleeding. She quickly healed it, and held his head in her hands. He opened his eyes.

"Why… why didn't you… tell me?" he rasped. She shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

"I… didn't want you to know. I knew that if you knew, you'd tell someone. And if word got around, then _my_ enemies would start coming after you. I couldn't do that. I couldn't endanger you like that. And… I thought that if you knew… you'd leave me. I couldn't bear that, I couldn't bear being away from you now that I know you and I know…" she shuddered to say the words, for they were irrevocable. "… I know that I love you."

"Knowing that wouldn't have changed the way I felt about you." His voice was fading now, as he slipped into what she hoped was mere unconsciousness. "I love you too, Raven. I know how hard it is for you to say that, and I'm…" – he struggled (just like the author) to find the right word—"… I'm _glad_ that I'm the one you can finally say that to." He looked deep into her eyes. "If I get out of this, I'm never leaving you. _Ever._ And that's a promise." He stroked her cheek gently, before closing his eyes and going limp.

His breathing continued, a good sign. She gently set his head down before rushing up the stairs and alerting the media of the attack.

The Perfect Thief made his getaway rather easily on the stolen jetbike (which flew like a dream!), and returned to his base of operations. He parked it confidently, then reviewed the day's events. Not only was he in possession of the coolest ride ever, he had eliminated the threat to his security. Everything was advancing according to his ingenious plan…


	10. Chapter 10 Recovery

DISCLAIMER: For those of you too dumb to figure it out ahem, lawyers, ahem, I don't own the Teen Titans or any of that other copyrighted/trademarked material. The original characters Pale Face, Trudy, and Tylan are mine, as is the story itself.

Raven watched Tylan's chest rise and fall slowly as the heart monitor beeped steadily in the background. They were in Titans Tower's medbay, with Cyborg occasionally popping in to check his vitals, then leave the two alone again. Raven had spent all night without sleep, never leaving Tylan's side for a moment. Cyborg had felt many an impulse to tease his "little sister" about her new crush, but he saw how serious she was, and felt it would be better to wait until her boyfriend was out of danger.

Sure enough, later that afternoon, he woke up, attempting to sit up before grabbing his broken ribs. "Ow!" he exclaimed. Raven looked up as he winced and slowly laid himself back on the cot.

"Easy there, cowboy." She smiled at him. "You've had it pretty rough. Being robbed by Slade, swarmed by reporters, then attacked by a psychotic psionic. I don't know which of them was the worst."

"Definitely the reporters." He grinned back at her, his sense of humor returning. "So how are you? Are you alright?"

"Thanks to you, yes." Tears began to fill her eyes, though her smile remained. "You didn't have to do that. I'm pretty sure I could have blocked it."

"Yeah, well, the revelation that you were a superhero hadn't fully dawned on me yet, and so I guess my over-protectiveness just kicked in." He looked down at his bandaged abdomen sheepishly. "I guess if I'd have been mentally quicker on my feet, I'd not be in this predicament." He looked up at her again. "So… where am I?"

"Titans Tower. This is where I live… not that old run-down place you kept dropping me off at." She hung her head. "I'm sorry I lied to you. You didn't deserve that. And really, I don't deserve you."

Tylan shook his head emphatically before saying, "No, no, no. I'm the one who doesn't deserve you. I mean, you were amazing even before I knew you were a superhero, and now that I know that, I realize I barely scratched the surface! You are my dream girl, Raven. I knew it from the moment I first really talked to you. I'll admit, I was attracted by your physical appearance, but what that was merely the bait, to use a rather indelicate metaphor. The hook was your mind, and your heart. You are smart, witty, and sarcastic. Yeah, I know, it seems weird, but I admire that in a girl. You have confidence, but most importantly, you have a kind heart." She blushed, but he continued. "No, really, I mean it. I mean, what other girl would have kept the fact that she was a superhero from her crush to protect him? Certainly none of the other ones _I _know. They'd be flaunting it just to catch the guy's attention." He looked deep into her eyes, and that tingle came through her again. "You're different, Rae. And that's why you're perfect for me."

Raven was stunned. Perfect? Her? _Can he really mean that?_ she wondered. Yes, she was different, but nowhere near perfect. Oh, if he only knew what she was like inside.

Robin chose this moment to walk in, saving Raven from any further comments. "So, you're awake," he said. "I've been meaning to ask you a few questions, but you were unconscious. First, however, I'd like to thank you." He extended his hand to Tylan, who took it, though with a confused expression.

"What for?" he asked.

"For helping save Raven, even though I'm pretty sure she could have done it herself." Robin looked over at Raven, who gave him a glare. "Anyway, your willingness to sacrifice yourself for her is exactly the stuff we're looking for. I know you don't have any superpowers, but please, I'd like you to accept a position as honorary Titan." He handed Tylan a T-communicator to Tylan, who looked pleased… and then began to examine it extremely closely.

"Hmm… interesting. Seems to be a telecommunication device that not only picks up and transmits television signals, but also serves as a location tracker," he muttered, while turning it over in his hands. He looked at Robin. "I think I could help you make it better," he said.

"Better?" This was Cyborg, who had entered a moment before, closely followed by Starfire and Beast Boy. "How you gonna make my technology better?"

"As soon as I get better, I'll not only tell you, but _show_ you." He looked at the trio who had just entered. "I take it you guys are Raven's friends, too. And members of the famous Teen Titans, to boot."

"Dude! He's like psychic!" Beast Boy exclaimed. Cyborg whacked him upside the head, knocking him on his face. "Hey! What was that for?" Beast Boy complained while rubbing his sore head.

"Dummy! Everyone in the city knows who we are!" Cyborg gestured at the bedridden man. "Including him!"

"Oh… I knew that!" Beast Boy said cheerfully. Raven rolled her eyes at her clueless green friend.

Starfire squealed in excitement. "We have a new friend! And Raven has the friend which is a boy!" She zoomed in to give Tylan a bone-crushing hug, but Raven and Robin both stepped in front of her.

"Uh… Starfire?" Raven said. "Perhaps it's better that he not get a hug right now. He's got some broken ribs, and a hug certainly wouldn't help them. Especially a hug from you."

"Does our new friend not like the hugs?" Starfire asked in disappointment. She really liked this new friend and wanted to give him the hug that would make them friends forever.

"No… Starfire… that's not it." Tylan spoke up. "I do like hugs, but a hug would just hurt me more right now. And I'm guessing you give very strong hugs."

"Dude! I told you he was psychic!" Beast Boy punched Cyborg lightly in the arm. "See?"

Cyborg simply rolled his one human eye.

A/N: Sorry, no action in this chapter, but as any good reader knows, one chapter leads to the next. So hopefully the next chapter will be more action-packed and full of mystery. I attempted a little bit of humor.

Please, please ,PLEASE rate and review! The next chapter doesn't go up until someone reviews this one!


	11. Chapter 11 Training

Slade chuckled at his victory. No jail cell could hold him for long. He glanced back at the pile of dead guards he had left behind. Without a second thought he threw his hand forward at the wall, bright flame bursting from his palm to obliterate the obstruction. After stepping over a few more corpses, he leapt from the twentieth story to the top of a nearby parking garage. The cool night air did not reach the masked villain, as he raced through the night to his lair, to begin plotting his revenge…

The next day, Tylan felt good enough to get up and walk, which he did, Raven always by his side. He went out to watch their morning training session on the obstacle course.

The timer started as a horn blared, sending Robin through the obstacle course first. Empty ground seemed to stand before him, and Tylan wondered just what kind of obstacle course this was.

Without warning, a forest of metal spikes came popping up out of the ground. Some retracted then, while others remained extended, and the cycle continued, a random pattern of spikes emerging and disappearing every second.

But Robin was far too quick to be deterred by these simple obstacles. He wove through the metal impalers, and vaulted off his bo staff like a pole vaulter, landing safely on the opposite side of the metal spikes, which immediately retracted into the ground. Next, a bank of lasers revealed themselves, all firing at random.

Robin was not daunted. Charging the brightly flashing lasers, he jumped and ducked, bobbed and wove to avoid the deadly light beams. Hurling an explosive disk at each cannon, he then leapt back, awaiting the mighty explosion that followed soon after.

The next obstacle was a set of gates that opened and slammed shut so quickly Tylan thought Robin would never make it through. And in a way, he was right. Robin didn't dash through with sheer speed, but used his titanium staff to prop each gate open as he passed through.

The final obstacle was three robots shaped like giant humans. The first one succumbed to a volley of electro-disks. The other two turned to try to track Robin, but the Boy Wonder was able to elude their mechanical stares. He clambered up the back of the one on the left, then smashed its head with a well-placed boot. As the mechanical mammoth crashed to the ground, Robin sprang into the air, and, twisting his body around so as to get the maximum possible force, swung his bo staff at his final adversary, who slumped down, head completely severed.

The Titans cheered as Robin's time displayed itself on the board. _1:18_. "Yeah, Robin! That's a new record!" cheered Cyborg. Then he frowned. "Wait… you beat MY record!" Beast Boy laughed hysterically in the background at Cyborg's frustration.

Tylan's eyes were wide. "Man, no wonder you guys beat almost everybody!" When Robin gave him a glare, he backed off. "I mean, Slade is the only one you haven't beaten, right?" Then he thought a moment. "Hey, did you guys fight a man in a suit of armor that was really dark gray? He said he was going to kill Raven because he didn't want to take the chance of her fighting him too." Raven was surprised at his near-photographic memory. "Did you guys ever beat him?"

Robin pounded his fist into his hand, the thrill of victory now gone in the painful reminder of defeat at the hands of the Perfect Thief. "No. We never did. We've only faced him two times, and both times he ran off before we could," he sulked.

"Oh." Tylan regretted saying anything, and the topic was never raised again. After the morning training session, in which Raven did remarkably well, almost beating Robin's time, Raven found Tylan in the garage with Cyborg.

"So, by redirecting the excess electricity used to funnel the electrons in the cathode ray tube, you can use it to boost range on the T-communicator." Tylan and Cyborg were both bent over one of the yellow contraptions, which was open, wires and circuits laying everywhere.

"I see," said Cyborg. "And by adding a mode to communicate by radio only, we can save battery! Why didn't I think of that!" He turned to see Raven in the doorway. "Man, Raven, your boyfriend's really smart!"

Rather than retort, Raven simply smiled. "I know. He's pretty great." She slipped up beside Tylan, and gave him a hug. He returned it and kissed her head. She then turned to leave.

"No, really Raven, it's ok! You can stay," Tylan said, and Cyborg nodded agreement.

"It's all right guys. Besides, there's too much testosterone in here for me. I'm going to go read a book."

"Suit yourself," replied Cyborg. Tylan looked a little disappointed, but it was lost immediately as he began to talk technology again. Raven smiled at how well the love of her life was fitting in with her friends._ This might be who I was destined for_, she thought. With that thought, she returned to her room to meditate.

Tylan and Cyborg began building a new jetbike, and between the two of them, it was almost finished by the end of the day. Both were in high spirits as they entered the main room for dinner.

But no sooner had they sat down, than the alarm rang. "Looks like Cinderblock is attempting to break into the prison. He's probably trying to set Slade free. Titans, let's move out!"Robin made a break for the door.

Raven turned to Tylan as the other Titans rushed past. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "but you'll have to stay here. Cinderblock shouldn't be too much of a challenge anyway, so we'll be back soon." She pulled him down for a quick kiss, then took off for the door as well.

Tylan sighed. He hated not being in on battles.

So, I'm sorry this chapter isn't as great as maybe you thought it would be, but believe me, the next chapter will be amazing! I promise!

Please rate and review, you know nothing new goes up until the old is reviewed.


	12. Chapter 12 Wrong Again

"Watch out!"

This from Cyborg, as Cinderblock hurled a sedan at Starfire. With the warning, she had enough time to rip it to shreds with Starbolts. She followed up her energy barrage with a blast of green energy from her eyes, knocking the concrete giant back several feet before it recovered.

It didn't have long to recover before it was pelted by several cars wreathed in black magic in addition to waves of pure blue energy. Several explosive disks slammed into Cinderblock as he roared in anger. Then the final blow came as Beast Boy, in the form of a _Tyrannosaurus Rex_ landed an enormous strike with his hefty tail, throwing the behemoth into the donut shop across the street from the prison.

Robin turned to assess the damage to the prison, but surprisingly, aside from a large hole near the top of the building, the prison was intact. He puzzled for a moment. _Why would Slade send only one of his minions to rescue him from prison? Unless…_ He rushed for the door, ran to the security guard at the desk, who had just recovered from his recent encounter with the stone goliath. "Where is Slade?" shouted Robin.

"Er… uh… twentieth floor…" mumbled the guard, clearly frightened by Robin's outburst. He paid no attention, however, as he sprinted to the stairs and took them four at a time to the twentieth floor. When he arrived, he was barely out of breath, but the destruction and death that met his eyes made him gasp. And the red burning "S" in the middle of the floor left no doubt that Slade was no longer there.

_It was a feint, a distraction for something else. __But what?_Slade could have been going after the jar, but nobody knew where it was. And unless Slade had wasted Cinderblock's distraction to go joyriding through the city, something very bad was about to happen.

Slade was, in fact up to no good. He was also miles away from the Titans, looking up at their magnificent T-shaped tower. "Bring me the boy. Alive," he growled to his robot slaves. They swiftly climbed the tower, penetrating the defenses through the roof.

At that very moment, Tylan was adding the finishing touches to his jet-bike while simultaneously filling it with fuel. He hummed to himself as he worked, which is why he never heard the steps behind him.

Suddenly two strong arms grabbed him from behind. Tylan quickly threw his elbow backwards into his adversary's chest, only to grab it in pain when it struck metal. _Damn, they're metal_, he thought. He twisted and squirmed about in his foe's grasp until he finally broke free and spin-kicked the robot in the head. It did nothing more than knock the robot down and delay it, but that moment's delay was all Tylan needed to shut off the fuel pump, fire up the jet-bike, and ride it out the open door of the garage, smashing three of Slade's minions on the way out.

Slade watched the fleeing figure on the flying motorcycle, and chuckled to himself. _You can run, but you can't hide. Not from me. Not from Slade._ No matter where the kid went, Slade and his army would be close behind, and eventually, the bike or the kid would run out of gas, and at that point, Slade would execute his perfect plan to finally destroy the Teen Titans once and for all.

Tylan flew the jet-bike with ease, even doing a couple of rolls before nearly falling off. _Gotta__ remember not to do that if Raven's on the back_, he thought. Those robots were tough, and he was going to need some help if he was going to beat them. _I've __gotta__ get back. _

He continued to fly until he could see his house. But the other thing he could see was a crowd of black figures outside it. Undoubtedly more of Slade's cronies. Against so many, he couldn't do anything, so he did the only thing he could: called the police, and turned his jet-bike around and rode away from his home.

Slade arrived at the mansion, expecting to find the boy there. Instead, his minions were searching the house, but couldn't find anything. He went in to search for himself. As he started down the steps to the basement workshop, he heard movement. Drawing his staff, his forehead glowed red with the Mark of Skath. "Ready or not, here I come…" noting a shadow zipping from one pile of junk to another, Slade aimed a lethal fireball at it. The explosion rocked the house, sending metal parts flying everywhere.

Slade walked through the debris to get a look at what he had destroyed, but to his surprise, he found nothing.

A fist materialized in front of his face, glowing blue with energy and snapping his head back before a foot sweep took Slade's feet out from under him. As Slade looked on in amazement, the Perfect Thief materialized right in front of him, his armor now an obsidian black rather than dark gray.

"Like the changes? They make life so much easier," cackled the intruder. He stood over Slade, a palm pointed down at the supervillain. "I'd love to chat some more, but I've decided that you're too dangerous to me to be left alive, and so I'm going to kill you." The pulsing blue sphere in the thief's hand grew in size and intensity.

"Wait. One last question. How did you turn my slaves against me? I know you have psionic powers, but they can't be used on machines. How did you do it?" Slade was merely biding time, as he mentally called the very slaves the marauder had turned against him before.

The Thief considered a moment, then replied. "Well, since you're going to die anyway, I might as well tell you. You're right, psionic powers can't be used on machines, but I wanted to make it seem as if they could, just to keep you mystified. In truth, I'm an excellent computer programmer, and the neural interface between my armor and my brain allows me to think of code and have the processor write it. So I simply wrote a program that would allow me control over what your minions did, and transmitted it to them. It worked like a charm." At this point, footsteps on the stairs drew the Thief's attention, as Slade's robotic slaves stormed into the workshop. The intruder laughed. "Do you really think that's going to help? Didn't I just tell you how I did it? I can't believe the notorious Slade would be that _stupid_." As he rambled, Slade transmitted an order neurally to his minions. They all pointed their weapons at the Perfect Thief.

The Thief calmly folded his arms. One by one, the robots turned to face Slade, their weapons pointing at him. "Looks like I win again," said the Perfect Thief.

A blinding flash of laser light filled the room, and the Thief crumpled to the floor. Slade stood over his downed opponent, a smirk hiding behind his featureless mask. "I guess not. And I guess I'll be having the last laugh." With that, he ordered his minions to carry the nuisance, and set off for his secret lair.

Oh no! Slade has escaped! How did he defeat the Perfect Thief? With his foremost opponent gone, who will stop Slade from achieving his ultimate objective? Find out next time!

A/N: I told you this chapter would be better. But trust me, the end is near, and it gets far better than this!


	13. Chapter 13 Searching

The Titans returned to their tower, only to find it in a state of chaos. Furniture was ripped apart, doors smashed, and the Gamestation was a smoking wreck. Three of Slade's robotic minions were smashed outside the open garage door, and the unfinished jet-bike was gone. Raven alternately ran and flew through the tower, calling Tylan's name. She searched for his presence, but couldn't find it anywhere. When the television was flipped on, the news channel showing Tylan's house on fire, it was too much for her, and she began to break down and weep, destroying several small items throughout the room, including the TV remote.

"I have to go, I have to!" she cried as Cyborg and Beast Boy tried to hold her back. "I have to make sure he's okay." She broke free of them, and teleported away from the Tower, heading for her true love's mansion.

"Slade is behind this, I know it!" Robin pounded his fist into the table. "We've got to stop him!"

"Man, even if Slade is behind this, we have no idea where he went! We have no leads to go on, and Raven's concerned for Tylan. She won't be helping us anytime soon." Cyborg paced the room furiously, shaking his head. "I knew we shouldn't have let a civilian into our circle! They're just too much of a security risk!"

"Dude, what are you talking about? You were having yourself a great old time talking about that smart stuff earlier today!" Beast Boy accused Cyborg. "You were probably happier than anyone except Raven that he was here! He barely talked to me!"

Robin broke up the fight about to break out. "Listen, guys, this fighting is getting us nowhere. I say we go to the house, and look for clues of Slade's involvement and whereabouts." So the group set out, Beast Boy and Starfire flying, while Robin rode his R-Cycle and Cyborg drove the T-car.

Raven searched through the debris of the mansion, looking for any sign of her boyfriend. But no sign revealed itself to her. The paramedics had told her that they had evacuated and old man and old woman in critical condition to the hospital, but made no mention of a teenage boy. She continued to search, but found no clues. The only thing that gave her hope was the fact that his jet-bike was nowhere to be seen in the wreckage, so she hoped he was still alive.

Suddenly her T-communicator beeped. She opened it, expecting to see Robin's worried face telling her to return to the tower. Instead, she found herself looking at an eerily familiar masked visage.

"Slade!" she gasped. "What do you want?" Then another fact registered. "How did you get a T-communicator?"

Slade chuckled. "Your _boyfriend_ had it when I kidnapped him. Seems Robin made him an honorary Titan, although, from the fight he put up, I'd judge he has no superpowers at all." Slade leered at her, and his cyclopic gaze enhanced the effect rather than detract from it. "If you _ever_ want to see him _alive_ again, you will come to the warehouse on 75th and Maple. Come alone. If you bring the other Titans, I will kill your little boyfriend and then all of you. Understand?"

Raven fought back the tears, tears of anger and fear. "All right," she whispered. "I'll be there." She slapped the communicator closed and dashed it to the ground, shattering it. She turned on her heel and walked briskly away.

Robin and the others arrived moments later, attempting to reach Raven on her T-communicator, but with no success. As they searched through the debris, Cyborg came across the wrecked remnants of a T-communicator. "Yo! I found this over there," he said, while running up to Robin.

"Whose communicator is it?" asked Robin. After some quick data checks in the miraculously intact processor, Cyborg determined it to be Raven's. Beast Boy, of course, figured it out after a couple sniffs as a bloodhound.

"Yep, it's hers all right." Beast Boy said after metamorphosing back into human form. "I'd recognize that incense scent anywhere."

"All right, Beast Boy. I need you to find Raven's scent and find where she was going. Cyborg, you do a broad-scanner sweep of the area. Starfire, I want you on aerial reconnaissance. I'll search the city streets. If any of you sees any sign of Raven, call everyone and we'll meet you. Titans, go!" He hopped on his R-cycle and took off. Starfire flew into the air, her eyes scanning the ground for any sign of her lost friend. Beast Boy quickly changed into a dog and began sniffing the ground. Cyborg activated his scanners and began searching.

Four Titans searched for the fifth, who, unknowingly, had walked right into a trap.


	14. Chapter 14 Showdown and Sacrifice

Raven entered the dark warehouse alone, cloak pulled up over her head. She knew what was coming, she dreaded it, yet she had no choice. But why would Slade want her alone unless he wanted to use her as the Gate to bring about Trigon again? Even that didn't make any sense, because Slade had helped the Titans defeat Trigon the last time, and he certainly held no love for her demonic father. So why had he brought her and only her here? Even Slade wasn't crazy enough to fight her one on one. Unless he was attempting to make her submit, he had no reason to bring her here alone.

Slade stepped from the shadows, dragging an unrecognizable humanoid shape behind him in his left hand. "I see you have come alone. Good. I was afraid I was going to have to kill your _boyfriend_." He spat the last word with sarcasm and scorn. "But, since you've obliged me and done as I ordered, you can have him back." Slade threw the bound shape in front of her, but the sight that met her eyes was _not_ Tylan.

"You!" she shouted at the Perfect Thief. She then turned furiously on Slade. "Where's Tylan? I demand you show me where he is!"

Slade chuckled evilly. "He's right in front of you. Can't you see?"

"That is _not_ him. It couldn't be. This…_bastard_," she spat venomously, "almost killed us. I saw it with my own eyes. There's no way Tylan could be this conniving murderer," she seethed.

"Oh?" Slade seemed surprised at that one. "Well then, little girl, let me prove it to you." He reached for the helmet, and tugged it off.

Raven slumped to the floor in disbelief, for there, in front of her, kneeling with his hands bound behind his back and his mouth taped shut, was Tylan. "How could you…" she gasped. "How can it be…?"

Slade laughed again, louder and fuller. "Oh, that was quite a trick! I guess since your mouth is sealed, I'll have to spoil the surprise," he said to the helpless Thief. He turned to Raven. "You see, your boyfriend has latent psionic abilities. I'm sure you figured out the thief had them. But they just weren't strong enough for him, especially when he found out you were a superhero. He felt he could never be with you unless he had powers of his own. So he designed and built this supersuit, and used _psitanium_." Slade cocked his head at Raven's confused expression. "You don't _know_ what psitanium does? Well, then, let me enlighten you." He began to pace, while Tylan's eyes sent a silent request for forgiveness to Raven. "Psitanium is a highly radioactive element. It has the mystic ability to enhance and channel psionic energies when a magnetic field is applied to it. _He,_" Slade jerked his head at the captive Tylan, "built his suit to channel his natural abilities. Then, he went a step further by adding liquid psitanium tetranitrite canisters to his suit, and _injected it directly into his blood_. This provided a current of flow for psionic energies to follow, thus increasing his use of his abilities. The only difficulty is that psitanium tetranitrite is extremely toxic in large quantities, so he could only use a small amount at a time." Slade paused to take in Raven's shock, and he smirked behind his mask. "As to why and how he attacked you, I can answer the how. His psychic abilities and neural uplink allowed him to control his armor remotely, and through an ingenious voice assimilation program, he was able to control its speech as if there was really someone in it. I can only speculate as to why, but my guess is you were getting close to finding it out, and he needed 'proof' that he wasn't the thief." Slade chuckled. "I've finally found someone who is as smart as I am, and stronger, as well. His one weakness is, of course, you. Just as your weakness is him."

As Slade was talking, Raven was looking at Tylan's eyes. He seemed to be blinking a lot, but as she looked closer, she noticed a pattern. He was blinking Morse code at her: _…mind block…remove it…temples…mind block…_ over and over. Her gaze shifted to his temples, and sure enough, a thin metal band with blinking lights encircled his head at the level of his temples. She reached out subtly, and cracked the ring with a quick thrust of power.

Slade was mid-sentence when Tylan's hand bindings disintegrated into dust, and Tylan spun around, catching him under the chin with a leaping uppercut. Slade was knocked onto his back, and Tylan dove for his helmet, only to be kicked in the face by Slade's foot. Both were up in an instant and at it again, but this time, Slade had the upper hand. Tylan didn't have his superhuman speed and reaction time without his neural connection to his suit, so he had to rely on pure power, which against the nimble Slade was largely ineffective. The tables were turned against Tylan for once, and the Perfect Thief began to lose ground, taking blow after blow from Slade.

Raven wanted to help, but every time she was ready to hit Slade, Tylan was back up and in the fight, pummeling Slade when he could and attempting to block Slade's lightning-fast attacks. Raven couldn't do anything until Slade landed a devastating kick to Tylan's chin, throwing him ten feet in the air and across the warehouse.

But before Raven could attack Slade, he had whipped around to face her, saying "And now, for the real reason I had you come…" He held up what looked like a necklace, then pointed it at her. "Time to end this."

A white-and-black beam erupted from the pendant, racing straight toward the frozen Raven.

Tylan looked up just in time to see Slade's attack on Raven. It barely registered in his head before he slapped the emergency override button on his psitanium injectors, pumping the entire half-liter into his veins.

The psitanium surged through his body, granting him more power than he or anyone else had ever believed possible. He simply _thought_, and it happened. Time seemed to slow down as he ran full speed over to where Raven stood frozen in shock.

He slid to a stop between her and the incoming attack. He drew power deep from his source, from his rage at Slade, from his determination to win, and from his love for Raven. He channeled every iota of energy he could summon into his hands, and with a loud cry, he released it on Slade.

The blue river of power streamed from his hands, engulfing the black-and-white beam before striking the stunned Slade.

The explosion was unrivaled, and Starfire saw it from the air, immediately radioing to her fellow Titans, "Friends, I believe we have found friend Raven and friend Tylan, but I fear it may be too late."

Tylan's attack faded, but the battle wasn't quite over yet. Though Slade lay semi-conscious on the ground, his attack, which moved slowly, had survived the wave of energy projected by the psionic. It moved steadily onward, striking Tylan in the chest.

He collapsed as a flash of white light exploded all around them. Raven cried out, and fell to her knees beside him.

Boy, I just love endings like this, don't you? Something of a cliffhanger, I suppose. In case you hadn't figured it out yet, you're at the second-to-last chapter.


	15. Chapter 15 Epilogue

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Teen Titans. Duh. OC's are mine and so is plot.

Starfire surveyed the tangled mess that was the roof of the warehouse before floating down. Among the twisted, burning debris, she noticed Slade sprawled out on the ground, not moving. Then she saw Raven, kneeling next to a body clad in black armor.

"Raven! Stay away from him! He is an enemy!"Starfire shrieked as she ran to pull Raven away from the menace. But as she approached, she noticed the Perfect Thief had no helmet. Instead, she saw Tylan, lying in Raven's arms while tears rolled down her face.

Raven was looking down at him, but couldn't see him clearly through the streams of water pouring from her eyes. He looked up into her tear-streaked face, and managed a faint smile. "Don't… mourn... me…" he whispered, before the light faded from his eyes and his last breath left him.

Starfire took off as Raven buried her face in his chest and sobbed, the uncontrolled sorrow blasting what little remained of the warehouse to the ground.

The other Titans arrived shortly thereafter, and barely managed to pry Raven off Tylan's body. Cyborg picked him up and carried him as they departed, Beast Boy supporting the inconsolable Raven.

That night, Raven saw no one. She went immediately to her room and wept until she was too exhausted to continue, at which point she fell asleep.

Deep in Raven's mind, Love collapsed, vanishing into the darkness. Rage howled in fury, for once united with Raven's other emotions. Happy couldn't say anything, and neither could Timid. Courage stood quietly, absorbing the sorrow without expression. Knowledge and Wisdom were unaffected, as neither had anything to do with Tylan. Rage took precedence in her mind, though it did not take over, and the one thing on Raven's mind was _revenge_.

But revenge was once again lost in sorrow the next day, when the Titans held a funeral for their fallen friend. He was buried in a simple coffin in a grave with a black headstone, that said, "Here lies fallen a dear friend."

The other four Titans paid their respects, passing before the headstone in silence. Raven knelt next to it, however, and placed her head upon it, crying silently into her arm. Cyborg, Robin, and Starfire let Raven alone, but Beast Boy remained, a few feet back, trying to give Raven her space but at the same time let her know he was there for her.

She knew. But nothing could make up for what she had lost. Nothing could bring Tylan back, and so she let Beast Boy stand there until he finally walked away to join the others. She leaned in close to the headstone and whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I got you into this. I'm sorry I'm just a demonic _freak_…" at these words, she had to swallow the lump in her throat. "And I'm sorry that I never told you just how much I loved you. You shouldn't have saved me. But you did. And that puts me forever in your debt." She swallowed again. "I love you. And I will never forget you."

After she had said these words, she placed a single black rose on his grave, and walked away.

A/N: While this is the end of this story, it is not the end for all time! A sequel will be written in the near future.

Please, please, PLEASE rate and review. I've had this in the making for a while, and I want to know what you think of it.


	16. Author's notes and Acknowledgments

Author's notes and Acknowledgments:

This story was heavily inspired by my own mind. I've been dreaming of writing this for a year or so now, and now that it's actually finished, I need to begin work on the prequel and sequel.

Yes, that's right, a prequel _and_ a sequel. The prequel, by the way, has absolutely nothing to do with this story. At least, on the outside. In the sequel, the two stories will be tied together… but how?

That's for me to know and for you to find out.

Thanks for reading this. If it weren't for this site and great readers like you, I would never have been motivated to finish this story in the first place. Speaking of reading, if you have ANYTHING you'd like to say, please leave it in a review or email me at I'd like to thank for hosting this story and making it available to the masses free of charge, and to my girlfriend, whom I bounced ideas off while writing it.

Thanks again. Hope you enjoyed it.


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